Playing media files without any issues

[drgrudge]

I have come across many threads wherein members have problems with playing various types of media files (.avi, .mkv, .ogg, etc..).

Most of the problems arise when we don't have the required Codecs installed in our system.

So I just write this article which helps us in combating this problem.

Overview:

Most of the files actually play without any fuss, only that the audio or the video will come; so some of us will find it difficult to find what is wrong as it wont show any error (BSplayer will show, and some media player will show the error but will continue to play the file).

We can follow the following steps to make all the files play without any issue. We will look into individuals programs now.

VLC player:

VLC player is my favourite player as:

- It dont need any Codecs to play any file

- Plays a variety of files (inc. DVD's and .mov files)

- It supports most of the OS

- It's Free!

More info and download:

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Gspot

GSpot is a free utility which identifies the codec required to play an AVI file and supplies other information as well.

● Establishes what video codecs (audio and video) are required to play an AVI file.

● Determines whether these codecs are installed on your system.

● Isolates problems associated with these codecs.

● Simple operation - Basic use: "File > Open", then read the results.

Screenshots:

The main window when the program is run:

To find the list of the installed codecs in your system:

Find out the required codec using Gspot. And then d/l that codec, install, and now play the file.

Download:

http://www.headbands.com/gspot/download.html

ffdshow

ffdshow is DirectShow and VFW codec for decoding/encoding many video and audio formats, including DivX and XviD movies using libavcodec, xvid and other opensourced libraries with a rich set of postprocessing filters

Filter also supports nowadays decoding of virtually all audio formats used in movies, including AC3, DTS, MP3 and Ogg Vorbis, and several subtitle formats.

To summarize its main idea, the FFDSHOW consumes way less CPU power than original DivX or XviD codecs, even with maximum post-processing. At the same time the post-processing seems to give excellent quality results and allows more configuring than the original DivX codec. It can even automaticly reduce post-processing if your CPU is getting overloaded. The noise filter adds a kind of a rasterising effect to the picture - might be useful in some cases.So you wont need 95% of the codecs required to play the files.

When we install the software, we get to see this:

Video:

Audio:

Just make sure that you have every check box clicked on so that your media player can play all the files without any fuss.

Download:

ffdshow

Video codecs which are used commonly in avi files are divx codecs (div3, div4, etc..) or XVID.

Audio codecs that commonly used are AC3 or .mp3 or other such codecs.

So use Gspot to find out the codecs that you need and d/l them.

Alternatives:

Media players (that dont use external codecs)

Mplayer:

This is a player used in Linux oses. But they have windows version as well.

I would suggest to keep the mplayer on your pc, if you cannot play any file on any other media player, try mplayer and it will, till date, I have not found even a single "common" format that it does not play. MPlayer Control has the usual brightness and contrast controls etc

Download:

http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/design7/dload.html

Alternative to Gspot:

SHERLOCK - The Codec Detective - FREE Codec Check Checking Utility!

www.updatexp.com/sherlock-codec-detective.html

Edited September 20, 2005 by drgrudge

[tiwaris]

Thanks man, I was looking for something like this since a long time.

Great job.

[tid]

Could you please explain how vlc player works without codecs. I looked on the site but i dont get it.

[Hais]

vlc is a great player... i thought everybody allready knew about it lol

but yer get it especially if u download alot of movies off the net on certain popular p2p networks :whistle:

[tid]

vlc is a great player... i thought everybody allready knew about it lol

but yer get it especially if u download alot of movies off the net on certain popular p2p networks  :whistle:

586500333[/snapback]

Would we? :whistle:

;)

[drgrudge]

Could you please explain how vlc player works without codecs. I looked on the site but i dont get it.

586500326[/snapback]

No, I have no idea. I just know that it dont use any codecs. :D

vlc is a great player... i thought everybody allready knew about it lol

but yer get it especially if u download alot of movies off the net on certain popular p2p networks  :whistle:

586500333[/snapback]

Hmm.. not many members may have BB connection to d/l movies off p2p. Also if we consider this.. why are there many threads like: "avi not playing" , "Best codec packs", "best media player" :p

[bcrescueman]

I have not been on this site before, but I got a problem and this looks like a possible for a solution: Here goes:

Running XP pro...no problems. Registry has no errors. Win Media player 10 won't play the wma and wmv files properly. Audio sucks and the video is choppy at the start and then follows the audio stream with frames missing. I did a reinstall from the MS site. No help. At this point... removed it all together... thinking of going back and reinstall the W Media Player 9 or maybe even 7. those worked fine. But, so did ver10 until recently. No clue. No new software installed. no virus/adware problems am behind a router with firewall up. Also... now my system will hang to a freeze when I have real player try to open a wmv or wma file. Any ideas very appreciated. Thanks.

[bananix]

I thought it might be a good idea to post here about DirectShow Filter Manager

http://www.softella.com/dsfm/index.en.htm

It's a handy tool which you can use to set what plays your videos if you have many mpeg-4 (DivX/XviD) codecs like ffdshow, divx, xvid and 3ivx installed and use something other than VLC like Media Player Classic...

here's also another tool like GSpot

http://avicodec.duby.info/

EDIT: added link to AVIcodec

[Icarus2150]

There's also an other program that don't need any Codec to play a lot of files called mplayer.

It's a command-line like but use a very little resources

[tiwaris]

mplayer by far is the best media player around, it's gui is not very clean and not much engineered. It was natively written for unix and unix like platforms.

If you use kde, you can go for kplayer (it uses mplayer as the engine), and if you use gnome, you can go for gmplayer.

Mplayer also has a windows version (command line) but there are many frontends available for mplayer. On windows platform, you cannot adjust brightness though (to the best of my knowledge).

I would suggest to keep the mplayer on your pc, if you cannot play any file on any other media player, try mplayer and it will, till date, I have not found even a single "common" format that it does not play.

hth

tiwaris

[bcrescueman]

I downloaded the VLM Media player and solved the problem. I do believe one of the files I was trying to play was corrupt which didn't help. I am familiar with the Unix O/S and will download mplayer as well. Real player locks up my system trying to play those WMV files and I will have to delve into that problem. I think there something haywire in my box...but that's another day. Thank you all for your help!

[gaekwad2]

Could you please explain how vlc player works without codecs. I looked on the site but i dont get it.

586500326[/snapback]

It uses its own versions that come included with it (MPlayer does too).

To be exact, it works without external codecs.

[drgrudge]

here's also another tool like GSpot

http://avicodec.duby.info/

586513225[/snapback]

I have mentioned Gspot in my first itself, I think you have overlooked it :D

There's also an other program that don't need any Codec to play a lot of files called mplayer.

It's a command-line like but use a very little resources

586517952[/snapback]

Hmm let me try that. Does it play .mov/.mp4/.rm/.ram/.rmvb files also (real and quicktime formats)? I know VLC plays .mp4 and .mov.

[syntax010]

I just read through this guide. Good job! It offers some very useful and helpful information for people. I know that more times than not, it seems that the largest issue that plagues a modern computer user, is the ability to play their media files correctly.

VLC is a great player, and if you configure it properly, you can use it to preview both MPEG and AVI files while they are still in the process of downloading. There is a .part file plug-in that can be downloaded freely via the main eMule website for it. It helps its ability to play noncomplete files a lot.

- note - the .part file plug-in listed on the main page of eMule is outdated and will not work properly with the most recent version of VLC player. To get the version that has been updated, check in the eMule forums.

As an possible(?) addition to your guide:

Many people have much trouble getting Quicktime, RealMedia, and/or certain types of Windows Media files to play correctly. Many people also do not like the advertising garbage that the official Quicktime player and the official RealPlayer put all over their PC. There is an easy solution for this. It's a great free media player called Media Player Classic. It is a very low resource using audio/video player, and it can play nearly ANY type of media file you throw at it.

<snipped>

You can find Media Player Classic here

<snipped>

Edited September 18, 2005 by fred666

[gaekwad2]

Shush! Quicktime/RealAlt ist verboten here.

[justlooking]

mplayer by far is the best media player around, it's gui is not very clean and not much engineered. It was natively written for unix and unix like platforms.

On windows platform, you cannot adjust brightness though (to the best of my knowledge).

hth

tiwaris

586518907[/snapback]

MPlayer Control has the usual brightness and contrast controls etc http://sourceforge.net/projects/mplayerc/

[drgrudge]

Many people have much trouble getting Quicktime, RealMedia, and/or certain types of Windows Media files to play correctly. Many people also do not like the advertising garbage that the official Quicktime player and the official RealPlayer put all over their PC. There is an easy solution for this. It's a great free media player called Media Player Classic. It is a very low resource using audio/video player, and it can play nearly ANY type of media file you throw at it.

<snipped>

You can find Media Player Classic here

<snipped>

586538241[/snapback]

Thanks for the additions :D

But I would like to add:

* VLC player plays .mov,.mp4 ; so why do we need <snipped>

* <snipped> are available with the <snipped> codec packs itself :D

and yeah it's illegal as well.

People plz vote for the thread, in case you found this interesting/informative.

Edited September 18, 2005 by fred666

[Fred Derf Veteran]

and yeah it's illegal as well.

People plz vote for the thread, in case you found this interesting/informative.

586540823[/snapback]

So don't talk about it then. :rolleyes:

[drgrudge]

Ohh.. I never knew that even talking abt codec packs were illegal. Ok then fine. Even without them, we can play all the media file types :p

Edited the first post with couple of screenshots, removed illegal stuffs (:p) & added more stuffs.

[loeakaodas]

I would like to suggest to anyone who ever has problem playing anything that they use CCCP it is a codec pack that plays everythig and includes MPC and Zoom I have yet to see something that it didn't play, even weird h.264 stuff is fine.

As for how VLC plays things without Codecs. It has its own codecs built-in so it doesn't need any external codecs to play a file, but it still has some problems with subtitles and h.264 stuff

[Slimy]

nice guide, but i just use wmp10+ffdshow :)

[nexx]

MPlayer, is by far the most powerful player available. There is simply no contest in my opinion. But for new users, the lack of a native Windows interface can be daunting.

MPUI is a frontend for MPlayer that has a Media Player Classic feel to it.

The download has MPlayer packaged in and no installation is required. The packaged version of MPlayer is a little out of date...you can simply override mplayer.exe with a newer version and it'll work fine.

Web Site | Download

[drgrudge]

I d/led the Mplayer (Windows version) after many ppl recommended that app in this thread.

Now this Mplayer is too basic and looks like cmd.exe of windows.

But plz tell how to use the Graphical interface stuffs, I d/led all the stuffs, the skins and the fonts (one font from the list of 4) also.

Plz tell me how to play DVD's also.

How to "skin" & play DVD's with Mplayer?

All Mplayer users, plz help me. Thanks for the support guys, in advance. :)

[nonick]

The only media player you need is mplayerc, media player classic. Its the best one for playing movies.

[Oblivion]

nice review :)